INDOT wants 4 more roads repaved

Cartia Martin, lab supervisor, divided a sample of asphalt into four parts before putting each portion into an oven (background) to heat it up to compaction temperatures on Sept. 15, 2015. The Indiana Department of Transportation's central lab was testing asphalt samples on hundreds of road resurfacing projects.(Photo: Charlie Nye/IndyStar 2015 file photo)Buy Photo

The Indiana Department of Transportation said Wednesday that it has reached a settlement with one contractor over road paving while demanding from another that four other roads be resurfaced.

INDOT Deputy Commissioner Robert Tally said letters were sent to Dave O’Mara Contractors of Mount Vernon on Jan. 1 requesting that it resurface recently completed road projects in or near Bloomington, Seymour, Richmond and North Vernon.

“Each road to some degree has premature cracking and is visibly aging,” Tally said.

The department says that the asphalt mixture used by O’Mara did not follow state specifications and was prone to early decay. O’Mara disagreed and replied that it would not repave the roads, Tally said.

The two sides are now in negotiations.

The demand is part of an INDOT review — disclosed by IndyStar in September — of 188 road projects to find out whether the correct asphalt mixture was used. The list has been whittled to 136 projects worth $57 million.

On Wednesday, officials announced that Brooks Construction had agreed to resurface 3 miles of the Hoosier Heartland Highway near Logansport. INDOT had demanded that Brooks repave or refund $5 million it had paid the company for the job. The negotiations lasted more than a year. INDOT eventually got what it wanted: a newly paved road and no legal action, INDOT spokesman Scott Manning said.

Newly resurfaced roads are expected to last 20 years, but the Hoosier Heartland Highway eroded to such a degree after three years, state officials said. The $16 million section was part of a larger project that opened on June 29, 2012.

Brooks will replace 5½ inches, three layers, of asphalt over the summer with a mixture that meets INDOT’s specifications. Tally said the agency has agreed to test the asphalt more frequently so a fault mixture doesn’t slip through.

Under terms of the agreement, which was signed by Gov. Mike Pence and Attorney General Greg Zoeller, Brooks will submit “an improved and updated quality control and assurance plan” to INDOT for the Heartland and future projects.

INDOT agrees not to hold the problems with Hoosier Heartland Highway against Brooks in consideration for future contracts and will finalize three pending contracts with Brooks. INDOT also will not fine Brooks for the Heartland project.

Brooks had disputed INDOT’s claim that it was at fault. It pointed out that INDOT took 72 asphalt samples at the construction site and never found any problem with the blacktop. It said all the materials, stone and a liquid binder were INDOT-approved.

John Brooks, executive vice president of Brooks Construction, said in a statement that he was pleased with the agreement.

"We are confident both parties will be proud of the finished project as will Hoosier motorists," the statement read. "Going forward, INDOT has awarded us new contracts and we will remain an industry leader in providing products of the highest quality — just as we have for more than a century.”

The state's dispute with O’Mara Construction is ongoing.

Dan O’Mara, vice president of finance, said the four roads in question are fine, and further testing of the asphalt on the projects will vindicate the company.

“We believe the roads are performing up to standards,” O’Mara said. ”We’ve been doing this a long time and have been doing business with INDOT for 35 years.”

O’Mara said he has four or five pending contracts with INDOT worth about $2 million that have been put on hold while this dispute plays out.

The projects O’Mara worked on that INDOT deemed faulty were the following:

State Street (Ind. 3) from U.S. 50 to Smith Street in North Vernon. The distance is 0.8 mile, and the value of the asphalt is $358,019.

Salisbury Road from West Main Street to NW L Street in Richmond. The distance is 1.2 miles, and the value of the asphalt is $365,311.

U.S. 50 from Heddy Run Bridge to just east of Agrico Lane in Seymour. The distance is 2.5 miles, and the value of the asphalt is $764,595.

Ind. 37 southbound exit ramp at I-69 just south of Bloomington. The ramp length is about 0.6 mile, and the value of the asphalt is $152,202.